Friday Favorites (September 15, 2017)

This week hasn’t been bad or overly stressful or busier than usual or anything like that, it’s just left me feeling kind of defeated. I’m starting to wonder if this is what every week as a full-time working mom might feel like. I run around Monday through Friday like my hair’s on fire (trying to squeeze any and everything imaginable into a lunch break), and then when 5 p.m. comes on Friday I take a deep breath and think, “I survived.” Sometimes surviving is the best we can do, right? This week, at least, that’s most definitely the case.

But! Today after work, Kevin, Maggie, and I head to Asheville to spend a long weekend with my family to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday. I’m looking forward to being together and to having some down time, too. (Oh, and some delicious food!)

Amidst the running around like a crazy person theme that was most definitely me this past week, I had time to try some new things I wanted to share with y’all:

Speaking of being relatively exhausted all the time…this Scary Mommy article about Mom Brain is so real and relatable. “It’s not always sleep deprivation. Sometimes it is, but there’s something else, isn’t there? Something deeper…And always in the back of my mind, my hamster wheel is spinning.” Preach! I not only have a million things running around in my head at all times, it’s also gotten harder for me to grab onto a thought at any given time. I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the last few months I’ve had to stop and ask myself, “What was I JUST thinking about?” or “What did I come downstairs to do?” I’ve always been a to-do list maker, but these days it’s insane.
Okay, moving on to my favorite holiday: Halloween! I try not to succumb to impulse buys, but this past week I just had to snag four of the adorable Halloween plates I found in the Target Dollar Section (a.k.a. the mother load of impulse buys). I initially got two — one for Kevin and one for me — but then stopped by a couple days later and got two more. That way, when Maggie is actually, you know, using plates next year, she’ll have one, and we have a back-up, too. If you come to my house for dinner between now and Halloween, you just might eat on one of these plates. (But don’t worry: I’ll let you pick whether you want the bat or the skull.)

Speaking of dinner…these edamame noodles Kevin grabbed from Costco recently are GOOD, y’all (and full of protein!). We made them this past week and served them with just regular old pasta sauce. So quick, easy, and filling!

Also delicious? Lantana hummus! So far I’ve tried the Sriracha Carrot, Edamame, and White Bean, and really like them all. These are perfect to pair with baby carrots or bell pepper for a mid-afternoon snack at work!